Healthcare Providers

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See the AirWave™ in use. We’ll be happy to schedule an AirWave demonstration for you and your colleagues so you can see how it works in concert with your current patient care workflow. Call us at 855.240.0553 toll free to arrange for a demo or send us a message.

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Case Studies

Patient Use

Kangaroo Care Safety

A triplet born prematurely at 25-weeks was placed in mother’s arms for Kangaroo Care, and with the movement, the AirWave detected upward movement of the tip of the endotracheal tube of 1.4 cm, occurring very quickly.

Using the AirWave, the Respiratory Therapist was able to quickly reposition the tip of the endotracheal tube back to the desired, ideal position. The mom was able to hold her baby for two hours.

Staff expressed that Kangaroo Care is a stressful situation because the endotracheal tube often moves, but they were much more comfortable with the AirWave monitoring the baby.

Tracheomalacia

A baby born prematurely at 23 weeks was ventilated for 10 weeks when the doctors suspected mild tracheomalacia, a condition characterized by weakening of the tracheal cartilage, widening of the posterior membranous wall, and reduced anterior-posterior airway caliber, factors that can cause tracheal collapse.

Within 12 hours of having the baby on the AirWave, the nurse noticed tracheal diameter decreasing from 5.2mm to 0.2mm, and oxygen saturation dropped into the 50s. This was occurring 6-10 times per hour.

The doctors were pleased that they were able to quickly confirm the tracheomalacia, which they had been suspecting for several weeks.

Endotracheal Tube Obstruction

A 10-day old infant, born prematurely at 29 weeks and ventilated using a 3.0mm endotracheal tube, was visibly agitated and experienced a heart rate increase from 150 to 200 beats per minute (bpm) and Sa02 decrease to 66%, all in a matter of 15 minutes.

The AirWave indicated an obstruction low in the endotracheal tube greater than 38%.

The Respiratory Therapist was able to concentrate suctioning on the area indicated by the AirWave, successfully removing the obstruction. The baby immediately settled down, and within 90 seconds, his heart rate returned to 150 bpm and saturation returned to 97%.

Hospital Use

Hospital A

In 10 months of using SonarMed’s AirWave, compared to the 30 months prior to AirWave use, a major hospital (Hospital A) drastically improved outcomes, providing statistical clinical and economic value of the AirWave:

Reduced number of unplanned extubations by 43%

Reduced average number of vent days per patient from 11.3 to 9.3 days, a 17.7% reduction

Reduced chest x-rays on micros by approx. 75%

Reduced ABGs

Reduced Tracheitis

Improved Suctioning

Saved a net of $180,545

Savings ratio of 5.3x with the AirWave

Saved more than $1,500 per intubated patient

Hospital B

In 5 months of using SonarMed’s AirWave, compared to the 5 months prior to AirWave use, a major hospital (Hospital B) significantly improved outcomes, providing statistical clinical and economic value of the AirWave:

Reduced number of unplanned extubations by 100%

Reduced average number of vent days per patient from 8.6 to 3.9 days, a decrease of 54%

Saved a net of $208,750

Savings ratio of 29x with the AirWave

Saved more than $1,800 per intubated patient

Training and Information Library

The following videos are modeled after SonarMed’s onsite in-service and contain both passive and hands-on components.

This video training is broken up into modules to make the training experience more flexible. While watching, we recommend that you have the AirWave Operator’s Manual on hand in case you want further clarification on any details. And if you still have questions after that, please do not hesitate to contact SonarMed® technical support.

NICU Module 1 AirWave Overview

NICU Module 2 Getting Started

NICU Module 3 Patient Monitoring

NICU Module 4 Waveform Analysis

Resources and Downloads

Product Literature

Keep up to date with developments in the field of airway management and with SonarMed happenings. You can also get the latest thinking directly from SonarMed on acoustic airway monitoring and its clinical application through our materials below. To help you make an informed decision about the AirWave airway monitoring system, download our brochure and other materials or request a demo.